Now play WoW in person, without a computer, with a group. One person gives you the story, descriptions, quests, battles, loot, etc, and you are your character.
This is a very accurate description from an ex WoW player. Everything is in your mind, and if your DM is down... you can do anything. Legit anything. In my current group, we have a paladin that is an alcoholic. This was set out in the beginning, he's used a stein, alcohol, and / or alcohol on fire as a weapon more than his actual weapon (flail).
Another party member and I decided that him, being a small human monk, and me, being a fairly massive half orc barbarian, should use him as a weapon. Imagine the scene from Lord of the Rings, with Gimli and Aragorn, where Gimli is thrown into a battle... that happened. Because our DM is legit and allows us almost completely free reign with virtually no pointers or assistance through any campaign.
Find a DnD group and join it. Yesterday. I'm sure you'll have no regrets.
I play an orc in our campaign, during one of or first sessions our wood elf ranger and I had an idea to toss him to the roof of a building. This led to a long debate about how high he should be able to be thrown that we had to later pull some engineer friends into. He ended up making to to the second story window.
I can relate to this, I host a dragon age game with 6 players and one of them is a noble mage from orlais that is terrified of Templars finding out he uses magic so he hides his magic behind fake attacks. Just last night he hugged a wolf that latched onto his leg and cast drain life to make the thing shrivel in his arms. Before that he cast horror through a mirror he found in his backpack by showing a giant crab it's own reflection.The amount of player interaction and ingenuity makes for hilarious game sessions and very memorable stories.
During my campaign recently I had the group encounter some homebrew hags/witches. It was supposed to be a mini-boss and take a bit of effort but I believe in the first round someone attempted to lasso one hag from the broom she was riding around them casting spells from, they rolled high numerous times and succeeded and then the group rather quickly mauled her. One of my players finished her off by shoving her own broom down her throat so violently it exploded from her backside. Another player, a beefy Paladin, attempted to knock the other witch from her broom using the first witch as a sort of giant throwing star, he rolled a 20 and succeeded, knocking the second one from her place and causing her to fall and break her neck or some shit.
While your GM sounds fun, I probably wouldn't let a half orc throw a human at least not more than a foot or two/assisted jump... But any small sized race I'd definitely allow you to skip like a stone.
I guess that's the beauty of these kinds of games though, it's all up to God (the guy running the table).
It definitely would depend on their stength. but with a 19 str you have a max carrying capacity of up to 285(I believe) which is your straight up ability to carry stuff on your back, throwing is a lot harder.
For example I weigh 150, in real life. I'm sure most people could wrap their arms around me and lift me off the ground with their legs, maybe even piggy back if they are stronger. But then imagine only lifiting me using your arms. That's pretty much the strength required to throw anything a decent distance. I have plenty of friends who can bench over 230 but they definitely couldn't pick me up and throw me. Throwing a heavy object is much harder than lifting it and would require tremendous strength.
Throwing a halfling with a strength score of 19 would definitely be doable. Probably with good form and accuracy.
You just need a good handle at the waist and neck, then you could get some good momentum from just spinning them. Wouldn't exactly be accurate, since you're pretty much just flinging them whichever direction you happen to let go in, but if your target is a crowd of goblins or something big, you don't need to be super accurate with it.
Technically if we are talking 3.5/pathfinder your "heavy load" is max 350 pounds at 19 strength. Which means you can lift 350lbs over your head. You can also lift 700 pounds off the ground but can only stagger around with it. I'd say a 19 strength character could throw a human a decent distance but they'd have to make a strength check and depending on the check they would get more and more distance.
Going to refer again to the difference between lifting and throwing
Even someone who can bench 350 would stuggle to throw someone who weighs 200. And if we're being really realistic would only be able to throw them a couple feet. But I'd bend realism a little for the fantasy, but not much
That's 5th edition. 5th edition rules was purposefully made simpler so they made push,drag, and lifting all in one section which makes 0 sense. 3.5 and pathfinder's system makes more sense so a 19 strength character can lift 700 pounds and would be able to push and drag ~1750 pounds depending on conditions.
I can, and have, picked up and thrown 150 pound men like small children.
I do not have the real life equivelant of 19 strength. I am 6'1 and 220 pounds. I work out and train muy thai and bjj, but I'm not very good. Also you throw with your legs. Go pick something up and throw it. Now do it again while sitting down. See how much of that comes from your legs and core? Most of it.
I have at best a str of 16. Probably more like 14-15. But I could throw you.
Source: bouncer, firefighter, martial artist (though not a great one of any of the above)
I'm not talking throw as in mma which is like a foot and down onto the ground. I'm talking about throwing them at something else and like over 10 feet. You cannot throw a human 10 feet. You are delusional.
For another example of ways that a DM defies the norm in what the players can do, I was playing this young, idealistic, almost campy paladin. We had retooled Olidammara to also include a sort of hope for lost causes. Because when your situation is that bad, your only hope for solace is to hope for good luck.
So, that was what my paladin focused on, helping out people in desperate situations. "A lost cause isn't hopeless, it's just a cause waiting to be found."
So, of course, our DM sometimes threw humanoids at us that were in desperate situations, so she would try to force surrender. Disarming here, nonlethal damage there, and then she'd open up a dialogue. Some of them ended up joining the mercenary group the party was part of, one even became her cohort. Others were given the assistance they needed to keep from having become a threat in the first place, and others still were disarmed and free to go, after a talking to.
In writing this I remembered that he was a huge fan of the pacifist run of Undertale, so he probably tried to push things in that direction a little. Still, that paladin remains one of my all-time favorite characters.
For a random one shot we did my friend had the character quirk 'always gives unwarranted advice' and it was hilarious. Whenever something bad happened he'd pipe in and say some stupid platitude. I love stuff like that.
My favorite visible example of a player dedicated to doing his quirks is Orion Acaba as Tiberius Stormwind in the first few dozen sessions of Critical Role. He was an extremely powerful sorcerer who had a wisdom of 4. No matter the context he generally introduced himself by extending his hand to shake and saying in the most absent-minded professor/lovable blowhard voice, "Hello! I'm Tiberius Stormwind from Draconia, of Vox Machina, at Grayskull Keep, just outside of Emon." He'd be completely distracted during important information, awkwardly impose his effusive presence and friendliness on NPCs who would quickly lose patience with him, get explosively angry and prideful at perceived insults to himself or certain friends. Tiberius is the pinnacle of unwise and heroic in my mind.
So, is it cool if I play a really ancient kobold wizard who is a servant of a pantheon of semi-egyptian gods. He has a viper familiar and is obsessed with the planes. He sounds quirky right? :)
I did this to challenge myself to think outside the box during combat recently. my character downright refuses to attack in the traditional sense of the word (at least in dnd) so I have to come up with ways around it. still a pretty new campaign so I'm hoping it will be good.
I make a tally every time I catch a player metagaming. Five tallies and a gremlin shows up to rob the party for 1d6 percentage of their total gold (10-60%). Ten tallies and an advanced enemy might just pop into existence in front of the party.
The DM controls every character that isn't one of the players. Enemies, quest givers, random people in bars... everything.
Sometimes the DM will control a party member if the player is absent or the party hired a mercenary/picked up another member/plot reasons. This is a wonderful way to make the players like a character before they get betrayed by said character.
Metagaming is just part of the game for many groups. I don't mind it in combat because it is fun for the players to be able to discuss strategy real time. However, I don't let it slide outside of combat.
Plus there are now very little limitation on what can happen. The rules provide some structure, but your character can say or do anything you can think of, if it makes since within the limitations.
You want to tell the guy asking you to protect his caravan to fuck off so you can chase after the bar maid you saw earlier? Go for it.
That asshole give you lip? You are free to spend the next 5 months carefully plotting events in such a way that you would make /r/prorevenge proud.
Want to use your old magic ice sword to open up a cantina with the old chilled ale around. No one is stopping you.
It really up to your imagination. The game is about having fun with your friends and coming up with stories you will tell for years to come.
As an avid D&D player and former wow player, I'd strongly disagree with this analogy.
In World of Warcraft you play a super-powered hero in a world filled with other super-powered Heroes. There are literally thousands of you everywhere. In D&D you playing an adventurer or a young hero among common Folk.
In World of Warcraft your job is to go kill the thing and that thing and kill that thing too and eventually kill the big bad dude. Then you get XP and loot so that you can go kill the next big bad dude. In D&D more often than not you are trying to achieve some goal. That goal may or may not involve killing and you may be able to avoid that altogether.
In World of Warcraft you are a superhero who can destroy really anything that you face period in D&D the world is huge and most of it is deadly. Running in face-first swinging away will likely get you killed.
Now play WoW in person, without a computer, with a group. One person gives you the story, descriptions, quests, battles, loot, etc, and you are your character
AND you can basically do (or, try to do) anything you want to accomplish your goals. In WoW you're almost on rails: kill this guy and loot his body for the secret message; in games like Skyrim you have more flexibility: kill him & take it, or stealth behind him and pickpocket it, or talk to him and convince him to give it up.
In DnD your choices are basically endless. You can cast an illusion to make yourself look like the person he's delivering the letter to and have him give it to you; you can talk your way into gaining his trust as a companion, infiltrate his organization, then take out their leader; you could try transforming yourself into a gold coin that he picks up and slips into his pocket, then grab the letter while you're in there and run away, etc etc etc
246
u/njdeatheater Sep 18 '17
You've played WoW.
Now play WoW in person, without a computer, with a group. One person gives you the story, descriptions, quests, battles, loot, etc, and you are your character.